American POW freed in prisoner swap. And the GOP doesn't like it.....

It's God's plan. Trust in The Lord.

 

I couldn't bring myself to rate the thread by stars, so instead I'm awarding it an image of Lee Atwater, which seems more appropriate.

 

Not really. Do you?

The Taliban seem like primitive religous nutjobs to me. They want to make all of Afghanistan over in their image. It is true that they have a lot of support in the largest group in Afghanistan. I hope they fail.

I do think that is natural that the Taliban would choose to defend themselves against invaders from 5,000 miles away. I suspect that our armed intervention there has at least temporarily increased their popularity among a lot of Afghans.


Similarly some Americans want to make the US a primitive Christian nation in their version of Chrisitianity. I hope they fail, too. Ted Cruz's dad and perhaps Ted himself seem to be into that. These American nutjobs would become much more popular if they were seen by Americans as resisting an invasion by say N. Koreans or Russians.

Hey, it is comforting to still feel like our two wars there were worthwhile, but it doesn't make it so.

 

How silly, frankly. Did you expect that Bergdahl would broker a peace deal?

In your mind is it possible that there could have been some other reasons why there might have been more attacks. How about the climate. Rainfall? Winter? They Taliban got a resupply of ammunition? Reinforcements?

 

That is absolutely absurd, and I am not surprised you believe it.

 

Like Benghazzi , birtherism, silly lies about Obamacare and other diversions you guys push, whether Obama made a mistake on this level or not is not really a big deal. It is a distraction.

The error is any pales in comparison to starting the stupid wars in the first place, with the reason for the Iraq War being a near complete lie, climate change extinction, the one percent scarfing up all the money while the rest suffer etc.

Bergdahlgate !! does keep eyeballs glued to Fox and keeps up donation to wingnut causes on the right. To be fair it does help ratings at CNN and I assume MSNBC, too.

 

It's sad really, I dunno, it's probably best to just ignore people like that rather than feeding the trolls. I have tried to interact with several on this thread and rarely does it go anywhere.

 

Or suffer needlessly in VA hospitals that conservatives and the one percent don't want to properly fund, because OMG it takes tax money. As I have said repeatedly, juicy prfitable weapon systems are overfunded, but for the one percent, the vets are just others people's children, despite some yellow ribbon waving occasionally.

Now if you can just privatize the VA healthcare system and get some juicy CEO stock option action , now we are talking.

 

Surrender without honor
Obama swap with Taliban endangers the country
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, June 4, 2014,

Free to kill again.

President Obama betrayed the highest obligation of his office — safeguarding national security — in trading five hard-core Taliban for the American serviceman who appears to have deserted in Afghanistan.
The five sworn enemies of the United States are now in the Gulf state of Qatar, where they are free to come and go as they like, beyond the watch of American agents. In just one year, they will be free to return to Afghanistan to fight there and stage terror attacks far beyond that country’s borders.
These facts were known to Obama when he made the deal, and yet he went ahead in irresponsible disregard for lives he has endangered. As the facts have emerged — and more surely will — it has become ever clearer that he lost his presidential compass in the Taliban swap.
In retrospect, his Rose Garden announcement that he was bringing home an American POW appears to have been a cynical act of theater.
Basking in the good feelings generated by the release after five years in apparent captivity of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Obama characterized the Taliban release as a safe and considered transfer.
“The Qatari government has given us assurances that it will put in place measures to protect our national security,” Obama assured, while aides insisted that the U.S. would be able to monitor the five confirmed jihadists and dedicated killers.
Subsequently, the President elaborated: “I wouldn’t be doing it if I thought it would be contrary to American national security.”
But a Gulf official flatly contradicted the idea the U.S. could monitor the killers, telling Reuters that the Taliban leaders “can move around freely within the country” for the next year, and then “can go back to Afghanistan if they want to.”
Far from keeping the five under guard, a Qatari minister deemed them a “humanitarian case,” and his government flew in family to greet them.
Eventually, the facts forced Obama to gesture at the truth he had sought to evade. “Is there the possibility of some of them trying to return to activities that are detrimental to us?” he asked. Answering himself, he said, “Absolutely. There’s a certain recidivism rate that takes place.”
Which is a fancy way of saying that freed Gitmo detainees have returned to warring on the U.S. Rest assured these five killers, close allies of Taliban head Mullah Omar, will do so with relish.
Worse, Obama ran roughshod over the law requiring 30 days’ notice to Congress of a Gitmo release — and, reported Time, “dismissed long-standing Pentagon and intelligence community concerns based on top secret intelligence about the dangers of releasing the five men.”
Reaching for a rationale, the White House suggested there was no time to inform Congress because Bergdahl’s health was failing. But U.S. doctors in Germany are treating him only for diet issues, not even malnutrition.
Finally, Obama provided insight into the actual reason for the deal by placing it in the context of his drive to pull out of Afghanistan.
“This is what happens at the end of wars,” Obama said. “That was true for George Washington; that was true for Abraham Lincoln; that was true for FDR; that’s been true of every combat situation — that at some point, you make sure that you try to get your folks back.”
In other words, he wants out so badly that he accepted the Taliban’s terms, regardless of the threat to American security.
He is surrendering without honor.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/surrender-honor-article-1.1816079#ixzz33j1GgAp1

 

it wasn't under this administration that our country's security was really in danger.
I fear virgins wearing khakis more than these taliban and their Industrial Tech II rockets.

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QWYYfCmZYdY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

At the 1:30 mark, they are saying that in 2010, the Taliban had confirmed to the British Newspaper that Bergdahl was teaching them bomb-making skills and ambush tactics.

 

I agree. Seeing the size of this thread and the number of news outlets discussing this ad nauseum, I think we've found our next Benghazi or ATF gunwalking.

Immigration, patent reform, firearms, wealth/income disparity, public education, student loans, lack of mass transit/sustainable urban developments, climate change, meagre budget for space exploration, and more critical issues are nothing vs the POW story.

 

So you might want to stop defending this guy then.

 

Glynch is like the Taliban - so far gone he will never change. I've always imagined him with long hair and a beard, though I suppose with a doobie in his hand instead of an AK. He was the first to make my ignore list. He is a die-hard American-hating communist who thinks we should try and make peace with all of our enemies. trying to talk to him rationally is a waste of time. Her's nuts.

I go to work and come back and see red lines everywhere... I see nothing important happened? I mean, outside of the already slow-moving train-wreck of a trade we've been watching? I guess a few more soldiers came out with claims of his desertion and possible collaboration, but aside from that... Nothing new.

 

This one is priceless. You really should read the whole thing. Col. Ralph Peters is 100% spot on. Which I know means the libtards will studiously avoid clicking on the link... So, an excerpt:

But compassion, please! The president and all the president’s men and women are not alone. Our media elite — where it’s a rare bird who bothered to serve in uniform — instantly became experts on military justice. Of earnest mien and blithe assumption, one talking head after another announced that “we always try to rescue our troops, even deserters.”

Uh, no. “Save the deserter” is a recent battle cry of the politically indoctrinated brass. For much of our history, we did make some efforts to track down deserters in wartime. Then we shot or hanged them. Or, if we were in good spirits, we merely used a branding iron to burn a large D into their cheeks or foreheads. Even as we grew more enlightened, desertion brought serious time in a military prison. At hard labor.

This is a fundamental culture clash. Team Obama and its base cannot comprehend the values still cherished by those young Americans “so dumb” they joined the Army instead of going to prep school and then to Harvard. Values such as duty, honor, country, physical courage, and loyalty to your brothers and sisters in arms have no place in Obama World. (Military people don’t necessarily all like each other, but they know they can depend on each other in battle — the sacred trust Bergdahl violated.)

President Obama did this to himself (and to Bergdahl). This beautifully educated man, who never tires of letting us know how much smarter he is than the rest of us, never stopped to consider that our troops and their families might have been offended by their commander-in-chief staging a love-fest at the White House to celebrate trading five top terrorists for one deserter and featuring not the families of those soldiers (at least six of them) who died in the efforts to find and free Bergdahl, but, instead, giving a starring role on the international stage to Pa Taliban, parent of a deserter and a creature of dubious sympathies (that beard on pops ain’t a tribute to ZZ Top). How do you say “outrageous insult to our vets” in Pashto?

Again, read the whole thing.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379481/why-team-obama-was-blindsided-bergdahl-backlash-ralph-peters

 

One more link I am sure no self-loving libtard will be able to click on:

Snow job? Terrorists may have staged video of haggard POW to fool U.S.
American captive kept into good health for five years

The Haqqani terrorist group kept Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in relatively good health the past five years because it was always its goal to trade him, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

But the last “proof-of-life” video the Haqqani network recorded showed Sgt. Bergdahl looking haggard and perhaps bruised. One U.S. official said intelligence analysts believe the soldier may have been made to look ill as a ploy to convince Washington he was in failing health and needed to be freed promptly. The video was produced in December and obtained by U.S. military in January...

The U.S.-designated terrorist group wanted the release of senior Taliban fighters who one day could help bring down the new democracy in Afghanistan, so the sergeant’s health was important, a U.S. official said. The official and other sources for this report requested anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters freely....

Some tidbits relayed to the U.S. command in Afghanistan came from sources with shaky reliability. Still, when Navy SEALs took possession of him Saturday, Sgt. Bergdahl was walking and talking and did not seem to have serious medical problems....

Oh, you don't say? Full Story:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/3/taliban-used-haggard-look-of-pow-bergdahl-in-last-/

Short summary: The Obama Administration just got duped into trading a deserter for 5 generals in an effort to deflect attention from the VA scandal, and now has egg all over its face. And ya know what? It's only going to get worse as more soldiers come out of the woodworks and offer the truth.

Dear Leader really, really stepped in it this time. He done pi$$ed off the rank and file military. So much they don;t even care about retribution. I don;t think any POTUS has ever done that before.

 

Your narrative is evolving, I see. Good for you.

 

Aside from the tried and proven distraction techniques of the one percent to employ gays, guns, god, race, abortion, Benghazzi !!, etc. , I think the quote from below shows how frustration at Afghanistan is being displaced onto Bergdahl.https://medium.com/war-is-boring/no...ahl-did-not-get-americans-killed-7945b45b5359
*********


We’ve got Bergdahl in our grasp. Defeated on the battlefield in two back-to-back wars, we can vent our frustrations on this sad, lonely and nearly-starved young man.

By contrast, it’s much harder for everyday Americans to inflict satisfying punishment on the Taliban. The Taliban is a determined, brutal, patient and deadly enemy. Its fighters understand the political, physical and psychic terrain on which they fight far better than we ever understood it.

They beat us in a war of our choosing. Hate them for it, if you think it helps. But don’t blame their victory, and our losses, on Bergdahl.

 

Could it happen that his hatred of Obama might eventually get him to understand how Dubya, the multi-generation prep school guy or Cheney with his five defermenrs felt aout ordinary soldiers? How they were so unconcerned about sending them to an elective war?

 

I don't care if Bergdahl is Hitler's lovechild teaching the Taliban nuclear physics, the nation's obligation was to get him out as the last POW in Afghanistan. You can line him up at the walls of Leavenworth and shoot him after you convict him at trial if you want. We owe it to every young American we send in to harms way, into a hell they can never imagine, for them to know we will have their back.

Same thing with funding and directing the VA. If you are going to risk their maiming, death and torture for a national interest, you uphold the promises you make them to get them to go.

Let's wrap this ill-advised period of history up and learn it's lessons about reality and hubris.